Challenges are mounting against PM Abadi’s government and the ISF in Baghdad. Following the kidnapping of the 18 Turkish workers last week, likely by Iranian-backed Shi'a militias, this week witnessed the kidnapping of a former Sunni advisor from Anbar.

The Iraq Control of Terrain map depicts the control exerted by armed actors in Iraq over urban and populated areas. “Control” is defined as “an area in which a military actor exerts physical/psychological pressure to assure that individuals or groups within the area respond as directed.” Control also requires a military command to maintain physical influence over a specified area in order to prevent its use by an enemy. The control zones depicted demonstrate where groups in Iraq are capable of repelling enemy forces.

Iranian-backed Shi'a militias are challenging PM Abadi's authority through political means and the use of force in the wake of PM Abadi’s recent reforms. The proxy groups' obstruction of the National Guard Law further limits the government's ability to subordinate the militias to the control of the state. The National Guard Law is legislation that is critical to empowering Iraqi Sunnis by arming them and organizing them in the fight against ISIS. The Iranian-backed militias have also used violence in Baghdad in ways that challenge the government's control of the capital.